Top to bottom: The menu and the dark beer; the oompah band at Hofbrauhaus. The maypole in the Viktualienmarkt. Neuschwanstein castle exterior. Bavaria snowballs.
Oh, Bavaria....We simply had to visit you to round out our experience in Germany. Six of us - Andy, Daniel, Luis, Kate, Katie, and I - had to see your oompah bands, pretzels, beer, and castles stuck in the countryside.
We took off from Göttingen on Friday night after visiting Otto Bock, and whizzed through the countryside on an ICE. It was a good idea to reserve the seats, and the multi-lingual kiosk made that process really easy. Normally I'd think that a three and a half hour ride was long, but somehow, it's nothing on a train when you're with friends and frantically trying to catch up on either sleep or journaling.
Five of us had reserved at the same hostel, Euro Youth Hostel, just south of the station. (It's recommended that you use the map and not use the "S-bahn" signs to point yourself south.) I'm definitely going to recommend this place to future students, and I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures of the interior. It's a cool pre-WWII building with an awesome bar and lounge area downstairs, of the comfy flavor as opposed to some of the trendy places we'd been to. Lots of couches and tables and a bar that we assumed was plenty big enough for late-night shenanigans. The check-in process was easy this time, and they actually gave us the rooms that they said they would. We girls opted for a private room, and got our own room and bathroom for 23€, including the breakfast buffet that you had to pay for if you didn't get a private room. Plus, we were right next to the tram and the S- and U-bahns of Munich. Because we got a private room, it was more like a hotel this time.
Kate tried to find a way to watch the Cotton Bowl, but all we could get was updates, and we were all so exhausted that no one actually stayed up from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. keeping with the game like we said we would. We were well-rested the next day when we went to Fussen.
After an easy walk to the station, we took the second train to Fussen that put us in town a little before ten, when the tours started. We then took a bus for ten minutes to the ticketing area. It sounds complex, but with a guidebook and so many signs, all you had to do was follow the crowd, really. I get the feeling that people don't go to Fussen just to see the town. We got tickets on the English tour for Neuschwanstein only and then had some time on our hands, so we decided to walk up to the castle. Normally there would be a shuttle, but the only other way via horse-drawn carriage. I'm glad we walked, actually. It was the closest we'd been to nature in ages, and it was a nice hike up to the top.
The area around the castle offers spectacular views, which kept us busy until our tour time came up. On the tour itself, it was difficult to be impressed by the guide, who only talked for about five minutes in any given room, herding us from place to place. I hadn't appreciated the quality of our tour guides, both on city tours and in museums, until that point. The interior rooms that had actually been completed before Ludwig's death (which are few in number) were ornately decorated, but somehow seemed fake compared to the older buildings we'd seen on the trip. There was a very modern feel about the castle, which I should have foreseen given it's only from the 19th century. I was fond of the blue and gold coloring and the porcelain swans, though.
The tour didn't last long, in part probably because there aren't that many rooms that are finished. Overall, I was somewhat unimpressed - it was smaller than I'd previously pictured, the tour was quick, and I realized that it was a relatively modern castle that never saw power, only play. I'm glad we went, but I was expecting something completely different.
If you want impressive, walk down the hill on the way back to the bus stop and buy yourself some 2€ "Bavarian snow balls". They're essentially large, puffy, fried donut balls rolled in powdered sugar. Next to schnitzel, sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels, and potatoes, I'd honestly say they were the best food I'd had. Certainly some of the best value. I'd have had more, but my heart might have stopped.
We timed our return a little poorly - actually, I'll blame it on the fact that the train goes back to Munich every hour...except at 2:00. So we'd finished our tour and had to wait around before we went back since there wouldn't have been a train for us to take.
When we got back to Munich, we took the U-bahn to Marienplatz, where we tried to do some sightseeing in the dark. We made it to the Viktualienmarkt where a couple of stalls were still open, but it was mostly too dark to see much anyway. Hofbrauhaus was a short walk away. Our initial goal was to have a beer before dinner, but we had to abort when it was too packed for us to find a table. Following Dr. Wasser's recommendation, we went to the Augustiner Keller for dinner, which was wonderful - the best food I'd had on the whole trip, to be rivaled only by the first night. The Augustiner Keller was more like a restaurant, but the room we were in was still small enough to offer a bright, cozy atmosphere. Their beer was great, their food was great, the pretzels were warm and fresh. (But don't try to cancel your pretzel order, because "you order, you eat".) For the first time in awhile, I felt like we got to relax and take all the time we wanted to enjoy dinner together. We'd been grabbing food on the fly week, rushing through dinner to hurry to a bar, or trying to eat cheaply.
We got another good night's sleep and a late start the next day after as much breakfast as we could stand. Obviously, the best way to start a Sunday is with a liter of beer while everyone else is at church...so we headed back to Hofbrauhaus and beer and pretzels. A fair bit happier, we walked Munich, got ice cream, and did some sightseeing, but didn't go on any tours or museums, which was refreshing. A couple of us secured bier steins for souvenirs (although as a warning to other students, you should do your shopping before Sunday when everything will be closed). Once again, it was a good choice to reserve seats on the train, because it was packed. We made it back to Hannover in time for it to be determined that I needed to see a doctor the next day.
"Let me fill up your glass
that glass was all foam
Skumps! Skumps! Skumps!"
- "Skumps/The Drinking Song", Sleeping Beauty
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